MARSHMALLOW MUSINGS!

October 13, 2014

Hi! Karen here. I had to share this picture of these HUGE marshmallows I found when I went to France recently with my mother. While we were in the town of Sarlat, we came across this amazing shop window—which brought my mind right back to the Candy Lab! The marshmallows were shaped like bananas, strawberries and long ropey threads. And each individual one was about was the SIZE OF MY HAND!

The French love marshmallows. I’ve even seen French marshmallow kabobs! It goes together with their love of meringue and just about anything that uses frosty foamy egg whites. (I don’t know what happens to all the egg yolks!) Then again, who doesn’t like marshmallows? They’re low fat, satisfying and fun!

This picture got me thinking about exactly where marshmallows came from. So when I got home, I called our intrepid CUPCAKE HISTORIAN who we haven’t seen in a while. In a second, he was back with the whole story.

Turns out that the marshmallow started as medicine, as a sweet confection for sore throats. The root of the marshmallow plant was used by the Egyptians, and later by the French who added the egg white meringue, corn starch and sweeteners. In 1948, American Alex Doumak invented a method of mass-producing marshmallows. And this approach led to the marshmallow’s now famous drum-like shape.

So here’s to marshmallows!! And, as an added bonus, here’s one of our favorite marshmallow projects–the PUFFY SHEEP from the cover of OH, MY!

Meet Alan and Karen

Alan Richardson and Karen Tack are the NYTIMES best-selling authors of Hello, Cupcake! , and now Make It Easy, Cupcake! Fabulously Fun Creations in 4 Simple Steps, the cookbooks that have created a revolution in cupcake decorating.